Petition in Support of Yuna Kim Gets Record Signings

A television in Seoul Railway Station broadcasts footage of Yuna Kim in Sochi. Watch video: Fans petition for Olympic recount.

An online petition calling for an investigation into the scoring of the women’s figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics attracted more than 1.2 million signatures within about 12 hours of Yuna Kim’s shock silver medal.

The petitioner, using the name Justice Seeker, is unhappy that the judges in Sochi awarded the gold medal to 17-year-old Russian Adelina Sotnikova. She got more points than Kim, despite the 23-year-old South Korean star skating what has been described as a flawless routine.

Advertisement

The petition, addressed to the International Skating Union headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, has struck a chord. “Open Investigation into Judging Decisions of Women’s Figure Skating and Demand Rejudgement (sic) at the Sochi Olympics,” it says. Friday afternoon in Asia, it was attracting roughly 15,000 signatures every 10 minutes.

Change.org, the website where the petition is filed, says 700,000 people signed the petition within six hours. About 90% of signatures were from people inside South Korea, it said.

“I can’t tell you if the petition will trigger an ISU investigation – it will depend on whether the ISU responds to public pressure,” Change.org Communications Director Tony Robertson said.

An ISU spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

If the petition keeps attracting signatures at this rate, by the weekend it will cross the number of signatures to a Change.org petition issued by Trayvon Martin’s parents asking police officials and members of the judiciary to investigate the teenager’s death and prosecute George Zimmerman.

That petition got 2.28 million signatures, the second-biggest response to a petition on the website, behind one addressed to Google and YouTube related to the private recording of public broadcasts, which garnered 4.36 million signatures.

European Pressphoto Agency

Yuna Kim and Adelina Sotnikova after the competition at Sochi’s Iceberg Skating Palace.

Kim held a narrow lead after Wednesday’s short program, but she was unable to match Sotnikova’s score in the free program Thursday. The Russian teen scored 149.95 points in her free program, while Kim, who skated last, scored 144.19 points.

Nine judges score Olympic skating events, and the scoring is anonymous. The highest and lowest scores are dropped, and the skater’s score is calculated by averaging the remaining seven scores.

Many observers had expected Kim to win a second Olympic gold following her triumph in Vancouver 2010. She was sanguine after collecting silver this time.

“A gold medal wasn’t really important to me and being able to perform in the Olympics is meaningful enough,” she said. “I made no mistake today and am satisfied.”

Many others aren’t satisfied though, judging by the pace that names are getting added to that petition. Robertson said it is the fastest-growing petition Change.org has ever had.

European Pressphoto Agency

Yuna Kim, who had already said she would retire after the Olympics, waves to the crowd on Thursday night.